MUMBAI: CNN International takes to the road for the 2004 US Presidential Election in a specially customised CNN Election Express bus.
The first stop on the year-long road trip will be the strategically important Iowa caucuses on 19 January. Then on 20 January, CNN anchor Richard Quest hops on board the bus for the build up to the New Hampshire primary on 27 January. After seven days of taking the pulse of the Democratic election campaign and broadcasting from the high-tech mobile production studio, Quest teams up with Jonathan Mann for live reports and a special edition of Insight from New Hampshire on 28 January.
Throughout the year, they will lead the networks signature coverage of global reaction and interest in the battle for the White House. CNN will interview the top candidates, policy makers and citizens alike to gauge the temperature of international issues affected by US politics.
CNN will showcase two, one-hour special programmes, America Votes hosted by Aaron Brown. The first hour airs on 18 January from Des Moines on the eve of the Iowa Caucus. The second hour airs on 25 January from Concord. This is two days before the first-in-the-nation state primary in New Hampshire.
During the week beginning 19 January, the broadcaster will feature a special series of profiles of the Democratic candidates, who they are and what experience they are offering. Then, during the week starting 26 January, CNN will examine the platforms that each candidate is running on and look at the key issues of interest to the international audience including US foreign policy, Iraq and the economy.
CNNs coverage also highlights top US political headliner, Former Defense Secretary William Cohen on a weekly basis. Secretary Cohen joins CNN to share his extensive knowledge of political and world affairs and weigh in on the importance of US foreign policy in the election. Every Wednesday, Cohen will provide additional background context and critical analysis of campaign issues that resonate outside the US.